Defensive Reading
by Kelly6
Summary: After a stressful day Lana finds herself curled up with a good book. *FINISHED!*
1. Defensive Reading

Author's Note: This fic takes place a while ago, before Lana moved in with Chloe; back when Nell was still just dating Dean.  
  
Disclaimer: Yeah, they're mine; and I'm also a math major. (If you saw my grades in math, you'd understand this comment)  
  
Part one- Defensive Reading  
  
After a nerve-wracking day, Lana was glad to be enveloped in a book.  
  
Reading had been her only love, that is, except for Clark. Sure, she had Whitney, but she never really loved him. Liked him? Yes, but not love. She needed him for the confidence he gave her, the popularity.  
  
Clark, however, she had loved from the moment she laid eyes on him. It wasn't until recently that she had realized he had been pining for her for just as long.  
  
They were the perfect match- alike in almost every way- right down to the habit of escaping their worries by escaping reality. She had always loved him, and probably always will. At least she had thought so, until today.  
  
She pondered their bond as she recounted the events of the most confusing day of her sixteen-year existence.  
  
**A bunch of the chapters to this story will be about this size but a few are long. I beg of you to review!! I really want to know what you think, I want the truth. (YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!! Hee hee, sorry, I couldn't help myself)  
  
*Kelly* 


	2. No More Secrets

Author's Note: Thanks for the pretty review, Electric Spyro. And it will be Clana, so have no fear, I wouldn't want to disappoint you.  
  
Part two- No More Secrets  
  
The day had started out ordinarily enough. She had gotten up, brushed her teeth, gotten dressed, and went about doing the chores she had always postponed until Saturday. She barely had the time anymore, with business at the Talon booming and teachers giving project after project on meaningless things like the person who invented the #2 pencil. (Her history teacher, Mr. Murphy, was especially proud of that project. He seemed to think that the class was now better off knowing that.)  
  
She had just begun to fold some of the laundry she had brought upstairs, when she heard the familiar buzz of the door bell. She continued to fold, assuming that it was Dean, Nell's fiancé. Walking in on the two of them making out was definitely not her top priority. She heard her aunt thumping gracefully down the stairs to greet him and couldn't help but roll her eyes. Her aunt was acting like a foolish little school girl. She heard the door click open and Nell's cheerful voice say "Come on in." She could just imagine the two of them now, slobbering all over each other's faces and grabbing less-than-appropriate areas. She shuddered violently at the thought.  
  
She was snapped out of her thoughts by a familiar voice. Lana looked up and directly into a pair of startlingly bright, green eyes. Clark. "Hey Clark, What's going on?" She asked, trying to mask some of her excitement. Maybe Nell wasn't the only one who was acting like a school girl.  
  
"Well, I was going to take a walk and I wanted to know if you'd like to come with me." Clark looked more than a little nervous about asking this question, but relief flooded his face the instant Lana replied with a heartfelt "Sure! I'd love to!" She paused for an instant before adding "I'll go tell Nell." As she left the room, she couldn't help but notice that Clark, once he thought she wasn't looking, looked even more scared then before.  
  
The second she was out the door, Clark began preparing what he would say. He had decided that today was the day. Today he would tell Lana everything; who he was and what he was capable of.  
  
**I know it's short, most of my chapters are, but that's why I'm posting them so close together. Again I beg (I really am that pathetic) that you review! **  
  
Kelly 


	3. I'm Not Going Anywhere

Part three- I'm Not Going Anywhere  
  
Lana and Clark were walking through the park, fingers entwined, when Lana finally asked the question that she had been dying to ask for the longest time.  
  
"So, what are you thinking about?" She asked, hoping for a truthful answer.  
  
"How much I love you and how I'd feel if you didn't love me anymore." Whoa. That was completely unexpected. There were times when Lana felt as though she could read Clark like a book, every emotion, every thought displayed clearly for her to see. But there were also times when he got so distant she could barely understand. Right now was a time like the latter.  
  
"Clark, I'm not going anywhere." Lana said softly. "Not now, not ever." It had the desired effect, he noticeably relaxed. "Now, what is it you want to tell me?" She asked, waiting to see if he might help her unravel the mystery that is Clark Kent.  
  
"Ask me any question and I will give you a truthful answer. Any question at all."  
  
Lana gulped; she certainly hadn't been expecting that. So that's why he had been acting so strangely. In the back of her mind, a little voice was saying 'Now you can finally find out what happened the day the tornado hit.' Another little voice interjected with an equally powerful thought. 'Do you really want to know?'  
  
Did she? 


	4. The Truth Is Revealed

Chapter four- The Truth is Revealed  
  
Judging by the grave look on his face, probably not. But, as usual, her curiosity was far more powerful than her fear. She heard herself asking him "How are you different?" Which was not exactly the question he had expected from her, but it would lead to the same result, nonetheless.  
  
"I'm not from around here." He replied. Now the seriousness in his voice had given way mostly to fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of her reaction. Would she think he was a monster, a freak show? Well, there was only one way to find out.  
  
Lana pressed further. "Then where are you from?"  
  
Here was the deciding moment. "I'm not sure. All I know is that I'm not from Earth." Lana's face paled. How could that be true? Clark was an alien? There was no way. How could that be? He was more human than the rest of us.  
  
"Is that why you survived the tornado? Even then, how could you?" Lana's curiosity was peaked now; she had to know why he survived, why she survived. He paused, concentrating.  
  
"Well, I'm pretty much invincible. The only thing that hurts me is meteors, like the one in your necklace. It makes me sick, weak and dizzy. That's why I had so much trouble approaching you to begin with. Your necklace put me in so much pain." He looked up from the ground and into her eyes, fearing her response. Instead of running away in horror, Lana continued to ask questions, though her pallid face continued to pale.  
  
"Are you capable of anything else?"  
  
Clark ticked them off on his fingers. "I can run faster than an airplane." One finger shot up. "I can lift our tractor without breaking a sweat." A second finger went up. "Let's see, I've already mentioned invincibility. I can see through things and I can start fires with my eyes." Three more fingers went up. "But who knows what I'll develop next year."  
  
Lana just stared.  
  
"You aren't afraid of me, are you?" Clark asked, looking hurt and vulnerable. He didn't feel that invincible right now.  
  
"I, um, have to go." Lana said as she left his loft. Clark sat down on the couch, tears in his eyes. 


	5. Realizations

Part five- Realizations  
  
Her mind was still reeling from what she had just learned. Clark. An Alien. Super-powered. Invincible. Inhuman. A liar. That one hurt the most, the fact that he had never told her, never trusted her enough.  
  
Those thoughts and others lay in a jumbled heap in Lana's mind as she ran home, tears streaming down her face. She silently thanked God when she realized Nell wasn't home. Just imagine trying to explain what was wrong:  
  
"What's bothering you, honey?"  
  
"Nothing much, except, you know Clark, the guy I'm madly in love with? Well, he's an alien. Yup, he came down in the meteor shower and apparently has a million other amazing abilities he never trusted me enough to tell me about."  
  
She plowed up the stairs to her room and threw herself on the bed. She tried to sort out the massive amounts of information she had just received.  
  
Did this explain the 'New Clark' that had brought her to a bar and then left her there for Jessie? Was he influenced by something that -since he was from another planet- only affected him? Lana promised herself that if she ever worked up the resolve to talk to him again that she would ask him that.  
  
She also recalled that, human or not, Clark was always the one who was there to save the day and rescue her from whatever meteor-induced freak happened to be attacking her that day. He was the one that she could always turn to for advice and support. He was the one that always helped her through all of the rough patches of her life. That was what mattered, not where he came from.  
  
Was that any good? Please give me feedback and be honest. If it stinks, tell me. PS- I want to thank the people that took the time to review, it made me feel very special. I love you guys. *Kelly* 


	6. All That Matters

Part six- All That Matters  
  
Lana put her book down. It wasn't like she had been reading it anyway; she'd been on page 97 for about an hour. She had just reached the decision that she would go to find Clark. She figured that it wouldn't be that hard to do, he always went to his loft to seek solace. It was his oasis, his safe-haven. She was sure that was where he would be. She ran towards it, eyes still red-rimmed from crying and hair strewn wildly around her face, she was past caring about her appearance, she just had to find him; tell him that she didn't care, that she still loved him. He was the most incredible person she had ever known, almost perfect, and she wasn't about to let him slip away. She didn't care what planet he came from, she loved him and that was all that mattered.  
  
*This one's a baby of a chapter. I just felt it packed more of a punch separate.*  
  
Again, I will remind you to review- not just good reviews, if you think it sucks, I want to know.  
  
thanks,  
  
*Kelly* 


	7. Will You Forgive Me?

Part seven- Will You Forgive Me?  
  
She reached the loft, after what had seemed like forever, out of breath and ankle twisted. She pushed ahead nevertheless, and went inside, searching desperately for Clark. There was no one there. She sat down on his couch, tears in her eyes once again, and waited for Clark to return.  
  
She must have drifted off to sleep, because the next thing she knew, she was staring directly into Clark's concerned -as always- blue-green eyes.  
  
"Lana." He said softly. "You were the last person I expected to see." He sounded hurt, yet hopeful, waiting for her response. She leapt up and wrapped her arms tightly around him, never wanting to let go.  
  
"I'm so, so sorry." She whispered gently in his ear.  
  
Please Review. I want to know if it gets too stupid or too sappy or too poorly written. Thanks a bunch! *Kelly* 


	8. Sweet Dreams

Part eight- Sweet Dreams  
  
"So you aren't scared of me?" Clark asked, silently praying that she wasn't.  
  
"I could never be afraid of you." She replied earnestly. "I've never seen you try to hurt anybody."  
  
"What about all of the bad affects that the meteors have on people? People get hurt, sometimes even killed because of those affects and it's entirely my fault. I essentially killed your parents too, the day I came down. If I hadn't come they would still be alive right now. You have every right to hate me. All that pain, all that death, and it's all my fault." Tears pooled in his eyes. Lana was baffled. He seemed to genuinely believe that all of that was his fault.  
  
"Clark Jerome Kent! NONE of ANY of that is your fault! You couldn't control that the meteors came down! You didn't even decide that you were coming down! So stop blaming yourself for all of those horrible things! None of that is your fault!" Clark's eyes widened, he had never heard Lana yell at anyone.  
  
"How can you be so sure? I mean, ever since I found out, I've been blaming myself. How can you be so certain?"  
  
Lana got closer to him and looked directly into his eyes, "Because I know you." Before either of them realized what was happening, they were kissing.  
  
A little while later, they were resting quite comfortably on the couch, lying down, cuddled up next to each other. Both were tired from the day's events. He let her slip into his arms, and for the first time in her life, Lana felt secure. She leaned into Clark's chest and fell asleep once more, staying awake just long enough to feel Clark gently kissing her on the head.  
  
THE END  
  
Hope you liked it!!! Thanks for reading!!  
  
Your bestest buddy,  
  
*Kelly* 


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